Kyiv's District Administrative Court issues one more ruling on PrivatBank in favor of Kolomoisky - NBU

"Kyiv's District Administrative Court on April 18 issued another ruling on the procedure for the nationalization of PrivatBank in the case No. 826/13813/17, which fully satisfied the claim of Cyprus-based Triantal Investments Ltd, a company controlled by Ihor Kolomoisky, a former shareholder of PrivatBank. In particular, the plaintiff's claims were satisfied in terms of the cancellation of the National Bank decision No. 105 of December 13, 2016, which defined the list of individuals and legal entities connected with PrivatBank," the statement reads.

According to the central bank, this decision by the NBU is one of the main issues in the process of the withdrawal of insolvent PrivatBank from the market with the participation of the state in December 2016. The NBU recalled that a bail-in procedure was carried out during this process, and it concerns the exchange of funds of individuals associated with the bank for the bank's shares and their subsequent sale to the Ukrainian Finance Ministry.

"The National Bank is concerned about the quality and outcome of litigation in Ukraine that could lead to losses of taxpayers' funds and risks to the banking and financial stability of the country. This may lead to the fact that persons associated with former shareholders of PrivatBank will have grounds to collect from the bank the funds returned by the state to the capital of the bank in the process of its nationalization," Head of the Department of Claims of the NBU's Legal Department Viktor Hryhorchuk said.

He added that the court decision had not yet come into force and "of course, we will appeal it in the near future."

As reported, on April 18, 2019, Kyiv's District Administrative Court, having considered at a court hearing the case on a lawsuit filed by businessman Ihor Kolomoisky against the NBU, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Deposit Guarantee Fund and the National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market, ruled the nationalization of PrivatBank illegal. The case, which includes over 50 volumes, was considered from June 2017.

Kyiv's District Administrative Court explained its ruling that recognized the nationalization of PrivatBank as illegal by the fact that the defendants in this case did not prove the legality of classifying the bank as insolvent.

At the same time, the NBU insists that the decision on PrivatBank's insolvency was taken on the basis of an analysis of the quality of its assets, which recorded the bank's negative capital.

The Finance Ministry is preparing an appeal against a court decision regarding the illegal nationalization of PrivatBank. The appeal against this decision is also being prepared by the National Bank of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that if PrivatBank is returned to its former owner, Kolomoisky, this may lead to default and a new economic crisis in the country. At a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on the situation with PrivatBank, he demanded that NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov clearly coordinate the actions of all state bodies in order to prevent panic and protect the interests of people.

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